Alice Through the Looking Glass

Year: 2016
Genre: Fantasy Adventure
Directed: James Bobin
Stars: Mia Wasikowska, Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Anne Hathaway, Sacha Baron Cohen, Rhys Ifans, Matt Lucas, Lindsay Duncan, Geraldine James, Timothy Spall, Alan Rickman, Michael Sheen, Matt Vogel, Leo Bill
Production: Walt Disney Pictures

In many ways Alice Through the Looking Glass is an easy movie to hate. The film is a sequel to the completely unnecessary Alice in Wonderland (2010) live-action reboot which became a hit largely due to their still being goodwill towards Tim Burton and Johnny Depp. This time around, the proceedings of the film take place without Tim Burton and largely sans Johnny Depp who's Mad Hatter monopolizes the plot but remains on the bench for most of the film. What we're left with is Mia Wasikowska's Alice whose blase lack of wonderment in the last film, sunk the movie like a skiff on shallow shoals.

Oh look, a disappearing, physics defying, talking cat...I guess I should look surprised.

The film starts years after the events of the first; Alice (Wasikowska), now the Captain of a merchant ship, returns home to London where her father has passed away. Her mother (Duncan) has traded in the rights of her ship for backing on the family home all but guaranteeing Alice's wondering days are behind her. Meanwhile in Wonderland, The Mad Hatter (Depp) is unwell. He insists his family is alive despite tragedy striking some years earlier. No one, including Alice believes him; thus he withers away (for some reason). The White Queen (Hathaway) suggests the only way to bring the Hatter's family back is to talk to Time (Baron Cohen) who is in possession of "The Chronosphere," a time machine of sorts. Thus Alice goes on another adventure in Wonderland, which quite frankly would be better served without her visits.

If recreating the same ornate CGI cacophony of the last movie was this film's goal then it passes with flying colors. There's certainly a lot to take in. The whimsical costumes and the merry, candy-colored set-dressing are certainly pretty. Unlike the original's over reliance on green-screen bravado, this one seems to have a fondness for the middle-England meets Willow (1988) aesthetic. The film is also serviced by Sasha Baron Cohen's dark, angular and severe costume which decently amplifies his character's motivations and demeanor.

Tarts...the ultimate time-travel McGuffin

Yet the film's look is about the only thing about it that really sticks with you. The story doesn't reach the same delirious heights of it's trimmings, giving it's audience the same "save the world" filler we've seen ad nauseum. The difference here is the heroine plays with time-travel in a way that seems simultaneously convenient and lazy. How lazy you ask? Well at one point the entire plot of the movie, to say nothing of one character's future motivations seems to hinge on the smuggling of a tart.

Mia Wasikowska acting instincts do manage to be much bolder and more interesting than the aloof supermodel detachment she seemed to imbue in the last film. Yet the Wonderland story betrays her by designating her as a vessel to witness things instead of a character with any sense of agency or will. Additionally the more head-strong Alice still doesn't bring the physicality required for either Wonderland or "real world". The first fifteen minutes of the film are meant to sell the audience on the idea that she's a down-and-out bad a** but her glaring daintiness conjures memories of Geena Davis in Cutthroat Island (1995). I'm sorry if it sounds harsh but Wasikowska can't play a salty sea captain (with a auspiciously form fitting gown) anymore than Danny DeVito can play Romeo.

My bounty is as boundless as the sea!

Boring, listless and lacking any narrative flair, Alice Through the Looking Glass is a paint by numbers hero story that can't help but feel as unnecessary as its prequel. It serves no purpose other than to entertain with bright lights and pretty colors while hammering home a message that could have been learned by the character within five minutes if she were treated less like a tourist and more like...you know, a character. But hey, Alice Through the Looking Glass is pretty to look at. So its got that going for it.

Which is nice.

Final Grade: F